Bocas Del Toro

Spent a magical last few days at La Loma Jungle Lodge on Isla Bastimentos. The pictures tell it all really - it was a truly memorable place. The owners, the attention to detail, the views, the FOOD, I cannot rave about it enough.

Isla Caranero, pina coladas on the deck.

Fresh cacao nibs, or cacao nips as Lucas thought they were called.

Breakfasts like this -homemade granola, yoghurt, pineapple from the farm and cacao.

Breakfast accompaniments like this -papaya juice, coffee, pineapple and ginger jam.

Any place that has a rum menu is a winner in my books.

Fresh eggs from the lodge chickens.

Lucas' new mate.

The final stretch to our treetop cabin.

My favourite spot.

Lucas' favourite spot.

On the look out for sloths.

We named him George.

Isla Zapatillas -our own private island for the afternoon.

Picnic on the beach -chicken tamales with tomato salad.

Banana muffins and coffee in bed.

Morning yoga with the wonderful Kat.

Eggstravaganza -corn bread, black beans, eggs, coriander. 

Even firmer friends.

Bahia Honda School.

Grades 1 to 6 all in one class. 

Bye bye beautiful Bastimentos, we will miss you. 

Back in Panama City. One hell of a view (but not quite jungle views).

Boquete

A bumpy flight and a taxi journey filled with the sounds of 80s classics and we were in the mountains. 

Boquete is a beauty of a place bursting at the seams wth greenery and birds, with a splash of torrential rain here and there for good measure. 

We ventured out in our rain jackets to George's Grill. They were supposed to be closing for the night but kindly ushered us in. Wood fire burning and reggae blaring out of the sound system...we were definitely at home. George's son turned out to be a bloody dab hand in the old kitchen, cooking up a mean tuna steak and fillet of beef in record speed, intermittently swearing in Spanish when the internet connection interuppted his reggae beats.

Amazing coffee tour today which has definitely left me feeling pretty appreciative of the mean feat that is the process of growing and making the oh so delicious stuff. The whole experience was obviously made even better by the canine friends that we met along the way.

Decided to check out Fresas Mary, a road side stall that I'd read about which specialises in all things...you guessed it - strawberry. The strawberry milkshake and pot with whipped cream did not disappoint. 

Warning, a fair few botanical (and potentially slightly boring) pics coming up...